Conservation in the Balance - TrustNews Spring 1993
Andrew Rutter has been with Winchester City Council since 1974 and is the Conservation Architect. He gives some of his own thoughts on work in this field What is the meaning of the term "Conservation Area" as used in current UK Town Planning practice, and how did it come about? Many people think of it as meaning an area of a town or village, designated by law where nothing can change. This is not intended and would effectively create an old-fashioned museum situation, such as applies to Ancient Monuments, looked after by the Ancient Monuments section of English Heritage.
View of Winchester westwards from Magdalen Hill
Ancient Monuments are mostly very old structures that are not lived in. They were first "scheduled" under an Act in 1913 because they were considered an essential part of our National Heritage which were not of any economic value to their owners. There are now thirteen of these in the Winchester Conservation Area, the most striking being the Buttercross, Wolvesey Palace and the various defensive walls and gates. (A box of chocolates to the first person writing to the editor with the remaining eleven!)
A more revolutionary idea dating from a Private Act of Parliament in 1907 was the creation of the National Trust to acquire and manage individual buildings, country estates and pieces of ground for the good of the nation. This has had the wonderful long term effect of protecting many beautiful parts of the country from "general development" by virtue of ownership dedicated to Conservation access and education of the public. Winchester City Mill, originally managed as a pioneering Youth Hostel, was secured in this way.
The idea of listing and introducing special controls over individual "buildings of special architectural or historic interest" in private ownership was introduced only with the Planning Acts in 1947 after the destruction of wartime, and then only on a very selective basis. This was at about the same time that planners were working hard to bring about the idea of "comprehensive development" to achieve "slum clearance", structural changes including road widening, and the creation of open spaces where they had been squeezed out by development. It was also the time when private motor transport was just beginning to grow into a mass possibility, with the special type of landscape that this produces, both nationally and locally. Developers simultaneously saw great possibilities with revolutions in office building, and then retail outlets.
The destruction of character that these policies brought about nationwide, included the North East quadrant of central Winchester, under the influence of Sir Patrick Abercrombie. This and the threatened demolition of the whole of Canon Street, where the Listing of some buildings was even withdrawn by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government so shocked enough people that Duncan Sandys was able to introduce the Civic Amenities Act in 1967. This required all Local Planning Authorities to examine their area to identify "Areas of special architectural and historic interest, the character or appearance of which it is desirable to preserve or enhance". The only requirement of this Legislation having designated a Conservation area was to publicise planning applications, but it was also the duty of the Authorities to pay special regard to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the area. Generally in Conservation Areas "outline applications" for particular developments which showed no detail of what was proposed were unacceptable.
Designation of Conservation Areas
Map showing conservation areas of Winchester
In Winchester in 1968 the County Council designated three areas in conjunction with a Town Centre Plan which introduced a 3/4 ring road of dual carriageway standard which would, for example, have engulfed City Mill in a traffic gyratory scheme. The three areas were Central Winchester (because of its Roman and Saxon road layout, two mediaeval foundations and concentration of Listed Buildings), Hyde Abbey (largely because of its historical association), and St Cross (because of its village character surrounding a rare and splendid survival of an intact Mediaeval institution, the Hospital of St Cross).
In 1974, Legislation was strengthened to control the demolition of unlisted buildings, or parts of buildings, like chimney stacks, in Conservation Areas, which paved the way for the retention of Princes Place, 52/54 Upper Brook Street and Colebrook Place, much of St John Street and parts of Jewry Street. The Legislation also brought into control the cutting down or lopping of trees by a compulsory notification system which could be turned into a Tree Preservation Order.
This strengthened legislation coincided with Local Government reorganisation when responsibility for administering Development control powers passed to the City Council (except for County Council buildings). At the same time the Statutory Lists were revised by the Department of the Environment, albeit still with a bias against the listing of Victorian and Edwardian buildings.
There always has been controversy as to how widely the boundaries of Conservation Areas should be drawn, and originally they tended to be kept fairly tight round groups of buildings that had a particular character, omitting areas of poor building or open space like the one between Sussex Street and the station.
Widening the boundaries
After 1974 in Winchester, the setting of the central area was seen as important, as well as the buildings which led to the inclusion of the Victorian suburbs linking St Cross and the centre, St Giles Hill (largely because of the trees), Orams Arbour, parts of Romsey Road and St James' Lane, including St James' cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, areas of Victorian housing at Hyde and parts of City Road. Parallel to this, considerable areas of the Water Meadows on the Winnall Moor, and down past the College were made sites of Special Scientific Interest. Should the boundaries have been extended to embrace St Catherine's Hill, Sleepers Hill, the hospital, West Down School, and parts of Highcliffe? One still needs to be wary about the development at Bushfield Camp or St Cross, but it is the duty of the planning authority to consider the effect on the Conservation Area of developments outside it.
In many ways, the wider the boundaries are drawn, the more the effect of declaring a Conservation Area gets diluted. It is also more difficult for a Planning Department of a given size (that administers a large and beautiful rural area with 37 other Conservation Areas) to mount the concentrated effort to ensure a high standard of three-dimensional care that a place like Winchester needs.
Having designated an area, what can be expected? A town like Winchester that is well placed geographically and economically is continually subject to the process of change, so how is its character and spirit to be kept alive?
Clearly there are parts of the Conservation Area like Kingsgate Street and the Cathedral Close which one would expect to remain substantially the same (though this does require the expenditure of considerable capital sums to retain the status quo).
There have been areas where structural change is required like the Barracks and The Brooks, and areas that needed to be rejuvenated, like St Clements Street and Staple Gardens.
The High Street, Jewry Street and St George's Street are subject to continual change as shops and services come and go, but it is essential to maintain certain standards of shop fronts, signs and street lighting. However, without interesting people and reasonable rents, there will not be shops of individual character.
Trees
View of Winchester northeast from Badger Farm
The space to grow forest trees has to be defended against the encroachment of motor cars. New trees need to be incorporated in development, and existing trees have to be cut down and replaced when they have become decayed, as in the Cathedral Close. The importance of trees in a city can be noted from the two sketches printed with this article.
Sculpture could be a potent method of enhancement as is shown by the statue of King Alfred, and more recently by the Frink horse and the Hampshire Hog, but why not in other parts of the areas? Who is willing to commission sculptors and artists?
Details always count for a lot, but the 1980's desire for household improvement introduced extreme commercial pressure to replace windows, doors and guttering with inferior modem products, clad elevations in mock stone, or to just paint them to create ' individuality ' which is often destructive of local architectural character. In Planning terms this can only be controlled by getting permission from the government for "Article IV directions" to remove permitted development rights from individuals. The Government looks to see that any proposals are based on popular demand. This is difficult to achieve in an area as visually diverse as Winchester.
More recently, expenditure to increase amenities for pedestrians and calm traffic, which does not require planning permission, has created controversy, and changed the Victorian character of certain streets.
At the end of the day the spirit of the place depends on the character and particular values of people living in, designing and developing and administering various types of legislation. The balance is fragile, requiring constant vigilance and there is a considerable need for education of all sorts. If control becomes too detailed, the effect can become claustrophobic for various sections of the population. With the example of the destruction in the wonderful conservation area of Dubrovnik in Yugoslavia readily to mind, we need to think deeply what are we doing and what are we ignoring in the fabric of society at large, both in Europe and overseas, and in continents like Africa and South America. They have their own places that deserve the status of Conservation Areas - every bit as much as Winchester.